It is known that when sterilizing articles by radiation, in particular with electron bombardment, it is desirable for the radiation to reach the surfaces that are to be treated directly because of the attenuation caused by any obstacle in the path of the radiation.
To this end, an installation for sterilizing articles is known from document FR-A-2 865 135, which installation comprises two electron bombardment members disposed at different orientations relative to the articles that are to be sterilized. Thus, by appropriately positioning the electron bombardment members as a function of the shape of the articles to be sterilized, it is possible to ensure that each electron bombardment member is facing a small-thickness portion of the article, in such a manner that it is possible to sterilize each portion of the article with electron bombardment at low energy.
That installation presents the drawback of requiring at least two radiation-generator devices, which are burdensome both because of their cost and because of the steps that must be taken in order to avoid radiation leaking, which is dangerous for the health of operators of the installation.